I only know of 1 job and it was advertised on Dave's ESL Cafe. If you know of any more, please contact me at naturegirl321@yahoo.com

Lalla Khadija College of Health Sciences: They recruit through Chase Resourcing International and require ESL Instructors for a new faculty in Rabat, The Administrative capital of Morocco. They are looking for senior ESL Instructors who will work at the new faculty. You must have a BA in English, TESOL or Education. Or an MA in English, Education or TESOL. You also must have a CELTA or DELTA. Only citizens who have received their degrees from the following countries can apply: the USA, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland will only be considered. You must have at least 8 years ESL/EFL experience. You will get free medical insurance, free flights, extensive holidays, and a salary / housing allowance package of $65,500 US Dollars, €51,300 Euro, £41,000 Sterling. Please email your CV, degrees, passport, CELTA/DELTA certificate and photo to aking@chase.ie. Adrien King
Global Education Recruitment Manager
Chase Towers, Daly’s Lane, The Square, Killorglin, Co. Kerry, Ireland. Skype: chase.resourcing. Office: +353 (0) 66 9762 007. Linkedin. Chase is a legit recruiter, you can find more info here.

Saturday, 20 December 2014

Time after time again I hear teachers wanting to get a job at XYZ school because it’s well-known and will look good on their CV. While I understand this point of view, there are lots of downsides to working at well-known schools.

They often pay less due to supply and demand

There’s lots of competition

There may be few perks and benefits

You may have to teach a lot of hours

There are often caps on renewal so you’ll have to leave after 2, 4, or 5 years

They require a lot more work (committees, publications, create materials) and you're not compensated for it.

Of course, some prestigious schools pay well, but it’s hard to stand out. More likely than not you’ll be a small fish in a big pond. While that’s still better than being a small fish in a small pond, there are better options out there. It would be great to be a big fish in a big pond, but not many of us will ever achieve that status.

Look for well-kept secrets and undiscovered gems. You don’t have to work at the creme de la cream school to have a good job. In fact, some of the best jobs are at schools that no one has heard of. They have low turnover, happy teachers, hands-off management, and a great salary package.

People are more likely to talk about schools that they are unhappy with and have a bad reputation than good schools. If someone mentions a school you’ve never heard of, don’t automatically presume it’s a not a good place to work at, on the contrary, it’s likely to be a good school.

Many of the small, less-known schools often have less competition and due to that have to offer teachers more to work there. They may do this by offering a higher salary, less teaching hours, and longer vacations.

Besides this being wrong, you'll find that data is skewed in order to make foreigners look guilty. The Korean Times wrote an article about foreign crime rates increasing, but neglected to talk about the Korean crime rate increasing as well as ROK Drop points out.

While it's true that foreigners can hurt a country, so can nationals. Foreigners can also help countries. They stimulate the economy with spending, share their culture, and sometimes settle in that country and make it more diversified.

People need to be accountable and blaming others isn't the way to do it. In this day and age, people should realise that this is racism and should be stopped.

Friday, 12 December 2014

Does the thought of taking another test just to get back into school scare the living daylights out of you? Perhaps you're not a great test taker but are better at applying your skills to everyday situations. A poor GMAT score could only be a detriment to your admissions material.

In that case, you might choose not to take the GMAT test at all. Hold up. How can you get your MBA without GMAT scores? Is that even possible? Turns out, it is. Check out these ways you can get your MBA without taking the GMAT.

If you're scared to death about the GMAT, consider taking the GRE general test instead. The Graduate Records Examination is a more standardized test than the GMAT. That means that you're tested on more general knowledge rather than just analytical writing and problem-solving abilities.

A high score on the GRE is oftentimes enough for universities to accept your application without a GMAT score. US News recently published a list of schools that accept GRE scores along with GMAT scores (you can browse these in their business schools section).

As an added perk, the GRE test is about $50 cheaper than the GMAT. To take your GRE test, you'll have to schedule a time with one of 700 global prometric testing centers and be prepared for about four hours of testing. Your score is valid for five years after taking the test.

Use Your Undergrad GPA to Your Advantage
What if you don't want to take a test at all? Doesn't taking the GRE test kind of defeat the purpose of skipping out on the GMAT? If you graduated from your undergrad program with high honors, then you may not have to take the test at all. A high GPA is a data point that you can use as "proof" to show your competency to admissions offices.

However, since most universities already look at undergrad GPA when considering students, a high GPA doesn't always mean you can get out of getting your test scores. Talk with your admissions counselor to see if your GPA qualifies you to skip the GMAT and what other options you have if it doesn't.

Enter a Program With a Waiver System
If you're looking to get your online MBA, no GMAT is required for select programs that offer a waiver system. These programs will waive the test score requirements for qualifying applicants. To qualify, you often have to prove your skills by showing a high undergrad GPA and your achievements in previous work experience. If you don't want to take the GMAT, these programs are probably the best option for you since their goal is to encourage non-typical students to apply. That could mean that the program as a whole would be a better fit for you.

Having no GMAT scores doesn't mean that you have to limit your selection of program choices, nor does it mean that you have to rush to schedule your test time. Instead, you might choose one of the above options to help you get into an MBA program.

University jobs in South Korea are amazing, but how can you actually get one of them? Hopefully you have a masters degree, and are already living in Korea with a year or two of experience teaching adults because then it will not be so difficult. But, you never know because even if you don’t, it’s about being in the right place at the right time. Maybe someone decides not to take a job a week before the semester starts and they call you, looking for a warm body who is in Korea, with all their documents and ready to work. Or, maybe your friend who is already working at a university gives you a stellar recommendation.

Dropping application off at a university or applying through the university website: 7%

As you can see, job boards and friends/networking are extremely important. If you want to get some solid advice about which job boards you should be looking on as you search for a job in Korea, check out the book, “How to Get a University Job in South Korea: The English Teaching Job of Your Dreams.” This book also contains some top tips as well as common mistakes to avoid as you network your way to a job in a Korean university. Good luck and may you find the job of your dreams.

Don’t forget to check out some additional resources by the author of this article, Jackie Bolen.

Saturday, 6 December 2014

If you're like me you've probably been asked this question by your students. Now the obvious answer would be to study. There's no magic pill they can take, nor can they learn English through osmosis, or by sleeping on their English book, although I'm sure they'd like to.

Learning a language and achieving fluency is hard work.Of course students don't want to hear that. They want you to come up with fun, exciting, and innovative ways to learn English. Here's a list I put together for my students. I keep a couple copies with me and hand them out to students who ask me how they can improve their English. They probably already do a couple things on the list, but tell them to try a couple new ones too. Now there are more ways than ever to learn a foreign language. Some people swear by online options such as Assimil, Fluenz, How to Learn Any Language, Memrise, Michel Thomas, Pimsleur, and Rosetta Stone.

20 Ways to Improve Your English

Do extra practice activities or homework outside of class.

Only speak English during class.

Try to think in English.

Read English books, magazines, journals, and websites.

Listen to English music, radio, and podcasts.

Watch English movies with English subtitles.

Watch CNN or BBC in English.

Meet with a native English speaker and speak English.

Meet with a non-native English speaker and speak Englihs.

Get a keypal and email them in English.

Chat online in English.

Keep a diary in English.

Use new English words outside of class.

Give long answers in class.

Read aloud.

Join Toastmasters and give presentations in English.

Practice, Practice, Practice.

Read graded readers.

Learn 10 new English words a day.

Review the lesson before class.

There's also a lot of information online. Here are a couple sites I found.

I've been working at universities in South Korea for the past eight years and I can say with reasonable certainty that they are the best jobs that I’ll ever have in my life and that deciding to leave Korea to pursue other adventures will be an extremely tough decision. There are various reasons why this job is so amazing including: time spent in the classroom, hands off administration, and the benefit package. I’ll talk about all three of these things in a bit more detail.

Time in the Classroom
Education is a serious business in South Korea and the result is that teaching is a very well respected profession. University students are generally very polite, kind (they’ll bring you small gifts on your birthday and for teacher’s day), and although they can sometimes be a bit shy, they’re fun-loving once you get to know them a bit. Even if you have some less than stellar classes (engineering students!), you won’t actually be spending that much time teaching since most jobs average around 9-15 hours/week.

Hands off Administration
One of my favorite things about my job is the freedom and lack of micromanagement from the administration. While you are usually given a book to teach from, it’s almost entirely up to you what you’ll teach from that book and how. While you need to give tests, homework and grades, it’s pretty much left to your discretion as to how you’ll do this. Meetings and paperwork are minimal so it really is a job with almost complete freedom. Obviously, it’s not great for inexperienced teachers or those new to Korea, but if you don’t need anyone to hold your hand, it’s really the perfect job.

The benefit package
One reason so many teachers stay at Korean universities for years and even decades is that the amount of money you get per teaching hour is extremely high. I’ve calculated it at around $75 US/ hour. It comes through a combination of things including salary (2.4-3.0 million Korean won), housing (free) or housing allowance (around 400,000 Korean won), pension (around 200,000 Korean Won/month paid by the school) and plentiful overtime opportunities, often at 40 000-50 000 Korean Won/hour. Combine this with a low numbers of teaching hours per week and about 5 months vacation paid at your regular monthly rate, you come out with that $75 US/hour.

If you want to pursue interests beyond teaching, it’s an ideal job since vacation and overtime work during the semester are usually optional. If you want to make lots of money, it’s possible since there are quite often plenty of legal overtime opportunities through your university. If you want to see the world and get paid to do it, it’s a great choice. It’s really up to you: hobbies, money or travel!

Convinced? Here’s How to Get a University Job in South KoreaThese jobs aren’t that easy to come by since they really are one of the best English teaching jobs in the world. If you want some tips and advice from someone familiar with the ins and out of Korean university jobs, you should check out this book: “How to Get a University Job in South Korea: The English Teaching Job of Your Dreams.” It’s available in Kindle and print edition and after reading it, I’m sure you’ll be well on your way to getting a university job in South Korea.

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

In November I asked people if they had ever quit a teaching job and 100% of the people said yes. For November I asked people if they had ever been fired from a teaching job. Again, the results were unanimous, 100% of the people said no.

From rmsbunderblog.wordpress.com

Yes: 0% with 0 votes

No: 100% with 11 votes

That's great that people haven't been fired, but also a bit scary since I'm sure all of us have worked with some people who should have been fired. Though maybe they were forced to quit.

Some people would argue that not getting renewed is the same as getting fired, but I'd disagree.

Exchange Rates
Back in the 90s, teachers could save money pretty easily. While they were only getting around 1.5 mil won a month, the exchange rate was pretty good and the cost of living certainly isn't what it is now. Take a look at the chart below to see what 1.5 mil won was. Oanda was used for the exchange rates and I used June 30th of each year. Remember that the IMF crisis happened in July 1997.

1.5 mil won

1997

1999

2007

2014

Canadian dollars

2400

1950

1650

1542

American dollars

1650

1350

1650

1357

British pounds

1050

750

750

864

It's a bit depressing when you look at this chart. 1.5 mil on was worth a lot back in 1997.

Salaries
Exchange rates are one thing, now let's take a look at salaries. In 1999, most hagwons would give you 1.5 mil won. In 2014 it's about 2.3 mil. Salaries have gone up, which is a good thing, but so has the cost of living. Schools are also demanding more than before with many requiring a BA, TEFL cert, and teaching experience. It's good that they're requiring teachers to up their qualifications, but salaries should also increase proportionally. Simply put salaries are not keeping up with the cost of living and the required qualifications that schools are asking for.

Benefits
They've remained about the same, which is one reason why Korea still has a large influx of teachers. You'll usually get . . .

Free furnished housing or a housing allowance

Flights

Pension (worth about one month's salary). There are exceptions, Kiwis won't get anything until they're 65. South Africans don't pay into the pension scheme.

Insurance

Severance (one month's bonus upon completion of your contract

Lunch (if you're at a public school)

Two weeks paid vacation

Decent work schedule

Low taxes (about 5%)

Raising Competition
The bad news is that since Korea's pretty easy to get a job in and seen as the best place for new teachers to save money coupled with the horrible economy which means people can't get jobs back home, more and more teachers are coming to Korea. This means that it's an employers' market and their standards have raised.

At the beginning of this article you saw how teachers now need to jump through hoops to get their degrees legalised at the embassy or apostillised, then get a criminal background check, and finally have that legalised and apostillised. When I first came to Korea in 2007, none of that was required. A couple years later, they started asking for the degree, and then a national criminal background check, legalised / apostillised as well.

Keep in mind that these are the minimum requirements. Since there are so many teachers to choose from, now employers can easily ask for TEFL certs or masters degrees. And even then they'll still have a large pool of applicants they can choose from. They're trying to get the most qualified teacher for as cheaply as they can.

Cost of Living
It's gone up, there's not really much to say about it. People who have been here for ten years say that it's probably doubled for somethings (like gas) but other things (such as foreign products, some like deodorant didn't even exist) have gotten much, much cheaper. Add to that that now you can buy a lot of products online for a decent price, it's probably a wash.

University Positions
Many people hold "uni gigs" in high regard and while they are often still good, there are good and bad things about working at universities.

First the bad, many places won't provide housing or a housing allowance so it's up to you to come up with key money and rent. Second, if you look at Dave's, salaries are often around 2.1 to 2.5 mil a month, which is similar to what hagwons and public schools pay, but again you don't get the housing.Third, many universities, even top ones, aren't offering what they used to; the salary and benefit packages are getting worse or staying the same. Some examples of places which are offering less are Ewha (less vacation), Sungkyunkwan University (overtime was cut in half and they require you to work 5 days a week), and Yonsei University in Wonju (more hours with less pay). Fourth, you're competing with people who are happy to accept what they're
offered due to their current job or the economy back home. Lastly, you might not get severance which hagwons and public schools commonly offer.

The good news is that many universities require you to teach less hours than a hagwon; 15 hours seems to be the norm, though I have seen places require 9-21 hours. Secondly, you often have at least one day off a week. Thirdly, while you might have office hours (2 or 3 a week) you don't have to stay in the office all day like you do in a public school so you have more free time. Fourth, there is often overtime. It can vary, I've seen 23,000 to 60,000 an hour. Now keep in mind that's gross, not net. The problem is that sometimes you can work more and be put into a higher tax bracket, so your take-home pay might not be that much more. Lastly, vacations are pretty good. Some places only offer 5 weeks a year, but there are a few that offer 5 months a year. You might have to teach during one of the breaks, but it's often paid so you can double your income for that month. If you want to teach at a university in Korea, I'd definitely recommend Jackie Bolen's book, “How to Get a University Job in South Korea: The English Teaching Job of Your Dreams.” She wrote a couple of guest posts here at TEFL Tips, How to get the university job in Korea that you want and why I love working at a Korean university. She's been in Korea for over a decade and really knows her stuff.

If you're Canadian, the exchange rate has really taken a hit and you're making less than teachers were years ago. Americans and Brits have gotten a better deal. However, even if you are Canadian, Korea's probably the only country where new TEFL teachers can save as much as they do and have a good lifestyle.